The Gilded Cage

lease forgive me, Your Majesty.
I didn’t know that you were visiting, so I failed to come out to welcome you earlier.
The Crown Prince has fainted from exhaustion after today’s events and is still unconscious.
Please forgive him for not coming out to greet you himself, Your Majesty.”

She kept her gaze lowered.
Her hair was done in a high up-do, which revealed part of her fair neck to his gaze.
Her bare skin seemed to gleam gently under the bright sunset. 

Xiao Kezhi stopped with a two-step distance between them.
His sharp gaze flickered when it caught a glance of her neck.

“Please stand.”

He took another step forward and leaned down slowly to pull her up by her elbow.

His deep and rough voice was completely calm, so Chu Ning was unable to read his thoughts.
The feeling of his large and hot hand by her elbow reminded her of the incident at the pavilion a couple of days ago.

She couldn’t help being stunned and gathered courage to look up into his eyes.
She also tried to move her arm away from his tight grip.

This time, he did not refuse to let her go.
He relaxed his grip, looked away, and said, “I heard that the Crown Prince is ill, so I came to see him.”　

After that, he did not wait for her reply and walked past her into the main hall of the palace.

In another room, the imperial physician was examining the pulse of the still unconscious Xiao Yu and questioned a nearby maid about what happened.
Xiao Kezhi did not go into the room.
He took a seat outside and waited quietly.
There was not a hint of emotions on his face.

With a wave of his hand, he had sent out all the maids who were standing in wait out of the main hall.
His two guards stood by the door like statues, so the maids did not dare to come near and could only stand in wait from afar.

Chu Ning looked at Xiao Yu who was lying on a bed and confirmed that he was indeed unconscious.
Then, she reached for a teapot on the table and poured a cup of hot tea for Xiao Kezhi personally.

“Your Majesty, please have some tea.”

As she handed the tea cup to him with both hands, she gazed up stealthily to observe his reaction.

Just as he reached out to receive the cup, her fingertips moved slightly.
It was uncertain whether it was deliberate or accidental as she rubbed against his hand.

He did not react to the brief touch at all.
Instead, he was looking at the steaming tea with a cold expression.